21 March, 2013

The hacking attack in South Korea on internet service provider LG Uplus, which crippled several TV broadcasters and banks, originated from an IP address in China, according to South Korean officials.
The cyberattack occurred on Wednesday and caused disruptions to TV networks YTN, MBC, and KBS.

Meanwhile, Shinhan Bank and NongHyup Bank were also affected.
During a press conference, a South Korea Communications Commission spokesperson said that the malicious code used for the attack came from an IP address in China, reported Reuters.

A previous cyberattack on South Korea had been traced to North Korea using a Chinese IP address. At the time, North Korea blamed the US for the hacking.
South Korea has yet to point fingers at North Korea for the most recent incident. The country had been ramping up its cybersecurity after threats of physical and virtual attacks from its Northern Communist neighbours.

South Korea's police are still investigating the latest hacking.
The US were also victims of an online attack in January on news agencies New York Times and Wall Street Journal. China was blamed for the hacking, but the country denied those accusations.

Spandas forayed into tech journalism in 2009 as a fresh university graduate spurring her passion for all things tech. Based in Australia, Spandas covers enterprise and business IT.

LEAVING MICROSOFT TO CHANGE THE WORLD "AN INFECTIOUSLY INSPIRING READ" John J. Wood is the founder and board co-chair of Room to Read, a global non-profit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education in Asia and Africa that has reached over 6 million children.

He is also the author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children and the children's book Zak the Yak with Books on His Back.

He is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative's Advisory Board and is a frequent lecturer at Harvard's Graduate School of Education and NYU's Stern School of Business.Wood took a vacation from his work at Microsoft in 1998 to trek through the Himalayas.

While trekking, he met a "resource director" for the schools in the Annapurna Circuit of Nepal, with whom he visited a primary school that contained 450 children and only a handful of books—none age-appropriate.

Upon seeing Wood's reaction to the lack of books, the school's headmaster suggested, "Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books," which inspired Wood to solicit book donations from family and friends via email sent from an Internet cafe in Kathmandu.

A year later, Wood returned to the school with 3,000 books—all donated in response to his email appeal to friends and family. Soon thereafter, he left his job at Microsoft entirely to devote himself full-time to Books for Nepal, a side project that would eventually form the foundation for Room to Read.

Leaving Microsoft was published by Harper Collins in August 2006. It was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007, with "Oprah's Book Drive" for Room to Read raising over $3 million.

Leaving Microsoft has been published in 20 languages. It was named one of the Top Ten non-fiction books of 2006 by Hudson's Booksellers and a Top Ten business narrative by Amazon.com. The sequel will be published by Penguin in early 2013.

Iqra'/ Bacalah

Behind The front lines of every war in the world

Soft Power, The means to success in World Politics

SOFT POWER

Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies.

America has long had a great deal of soft power; young people behind The Iron Curtain listening to American music and news on Radio Free Europe; of Chinese students symbolizing their protests in Tiananment Square by creating a replica of the Statue of Liberty; of newly liberated Afghans in 2001 asking for a copy of Bill of Rights; of young Iranians today surreptitiously watching banned American videos and satellite television broadcasts in the privacy of their homes. These are all examples of America's soft power.

When you can get others to admire your ideals and to want what you want, you do not have to spend as much on sticks and carrots to move them in your direction. Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive.

Much of American soft power has been produced by Hollywood, Harvard, Microsoft, Facebook and Michael Jordan

(Joseph S. Nye Jr, former Dean of The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, was Chairman of National Intelligent Council and Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Clinton Administration)

NO SATU

Tokoh Kedah "Behind The Enigma"

Monte Zain

Monte Zain, Out Of Malaya

Monte Zain leaved his hometown of Alor Setar at the age of 20, he sailed as a seaman on a merchant ship on a voyage to the New World to pursue his unusual dream of becoming a Hollywood actor.

A young man of lesser character and determination would have been completely overwhelmed by cultural shock during his first week on American soil in June 1947 as he walked the streets of Harlem alone-surviving on bread and water from drinking fountains in New York Central Park - sleeping in subway trains and on park benches.

Deligence and thrift saw Monte Zain on the road towards an initial career as an actor. He studied and worked, sometime on three shifts in restaurant to support himself and his family back in Malaya, and not forgetting to set aside five dollars in a savings account from each paycheck to assist his friends in the "Saberkas" theater group to come to America for higher studies.

Life expose him to many types of people and interpersonal experiences. His likeness to Sabu of "The Elephant Boy" fame was a strong magnetic attraction in his many encounters with the opposite sex.

Circumtances beyond the control of mortal man intervened and short stopped his dream of a career on the Big Screen, but not before two of his Malayan friends came to join him in California for higher education opportunities. As for himself, Monte Zain joined the US Army, primarily, out of necessity and survival.

He finally became a citizen of the United States and settled permenantly in California with his Japanese-born soul mate.

Tenang-tenang Sg Merbok

Jangan disangka tiada buaya

Jetty Merbok

This picture was not part of what I had in mind as the idea was to capture the sunset at the jetty in Merbok Beradik**. After having shot the sunset, I found the bridge was basked in the twilight of the dusk and the artificial lighting from the lamp posts. Couples with bridge's own reflection in the river, I quickly pulled out the camera to record the moment!